I usually use some cheap ones off amazon (they are probably the same things), and it can be difficult to get the rounds off of them.

First thing you need to do is make sure all of the rims overlap in the same way. The bottom round's rim should be overlapped by the round above it. (just make sure all of the follow this pattern). This prevents jams in the gun.

Next, the stripper clip should fit snugly into the gun.

Finally, place you index finger under the top round (either right before, or at the shoulder of the round), and push down (near the base of the bullet) with you thumb. You may have to push down hard. Just make sure your hand doesn't slip and hit the clip. It will cut you if you hit it just right.

I teach CMP GSM Clinics. In doing so we have a class room session where I show people how to load the Mosin and other bolt guns using stripper clips. I use dummy rounds but for safety sake, and to help keep students from being nervous while loading and unloading rifles, I remove the bolt.

If you screw up and get a live round instead of a dummy round, there isn't much chance of the rifle going off if the bolt has been removed. I have the students practice loading with the bolt removed.

No its not necessary, but you don't need the bolt to load and unload the rifle.

The guy in the video was pretty close in the proper way to load the Mosin via stripper clips.

I don't load them laying across my lap. While in what ever position you're shooting, I point the gun toward the target, while holding the rifle with my left hand (I'm right handed), I insert the stripper clip, like in the video, I pull up on the bullet with my index finger and push down on the rear of the top round pushing the rounds into the magazine.

In CMP GSM matches you're required to do a rapid fire stage where you load 5, get in position, fire the five, and reload and fire another 5.

For this reason, learn to load the rifle while in position while the rifle is pointed down range WITHOUT getting out of position. Get in the prone position, with your left hand (right handed shooters) rapped in the sling, drop the butt of the rifle to the ground allowing you to see into the chamber, take the right hand insert the clip, pull up on the top bullet with your index finger while pushing down of the rear of the top round.

No the bolt removal is not necessary and you wouldn't do it while shooting, but for practice loading I recommend removing the bolt for safety sake.

First thing you need to do is make sure all of the rims overlap in the same way. The bottom round's rim should be overlapped by the round above it. (just make sure all of the follow this pattern). This prevents jams in the gun.

This is totally unnecessary with a properly functioning Mosin-Nagant because it has an interrupter which holds down the lower rounds in the magazine and totally prevents double-feeds if the magazine is loaded properly. (A double-feed occurs when the rim of the top cartridge snags the rim of the next lower cartridge.) The interrupter consists of two sheetmetal pieces screwed into the lower outside receiver wall. It is sometimes called an interrupter/ejector because it doubles as the latter.

A Mosin-Nagant WILL double-feed if the shooter attempts to insert a full 5rd stripper clip and fails to press the cartridges down hard enough to push the second-to-top round past the interrupter. The cartridges may need to be shoved down quite firmly depending on the individual rifle. Don't worry about pushing too hard, this is a Mosin-Nagant, you WON'T break it.

If your Mosin-Nagant won't feed properly unless the cartridge rims are arranged as described in texaswoodworker's post, something is wrong with the interrupter.

__________________
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules... MARK IT ZERO!!" - Walter Sobchak

I Never, ever never ever never never never even seen, mine nor anyone eleses MN load a stripper clip half as good as a Mauser, Springfield or Garand.

Okay. Maybe in the movies. But that really doesn't count does it? Enemy at the Gate. eeewwwww.....

Too bad for those mean Germans. See what happens when you can't wait to shower-up until you get home. Lesson Learned. Keep your pants on while you have Ruskie snipers with MNs nearby. Clips or no clips.

One thing I also did to ease loading. Once you have the stock off, give the interrupter spring a good tweak with your fingers or a small screwdriver. I say this, because awhile back I had an M44 that almost needed a hammer to get the rounds in the magazine (the gun itself, not the stripper clip). Gave the spring the appropriate number of tweaks, and *bzzzt* they go right in like they should. And the best part is you can bend it right back if it doesn't solve the problem. So far I have done it on all my Mosins.

__________________Those who hammer their swords into plow shares will plow for those who didn't...

Quote:
First thing you need to do is make sure all of the rims overlap in the same way. The bottom round's rim should be overlapped by the round above it. (just make sure all of the follow this pattern). This prevents jams in the gun.

This is totally unnecessary with a properly functioning Mosin-Nagant because it has an interrupter which holds down the lower rounds in the magazine and totally prevents double-feeds if the magazine is loaded properly. (A double-feed occurs when the rim of the top cartridge snags the rim of the next lower cartridge.) The interrupter consists of two sheetmetal pieces screwed into the lower outside receiver wall. It is sometimes called an interrupter/ejector because it doubles as the latter.

While you are correct that the interruptor makes overlapping rims irrelevant once the rifle is loaded, overlapping them in the clip does, in my experience, reduce the cartridges' tendency to bind against each other and makes using the clip much easier.

I have hundreds of mosin stripper clips (Soviet, Chinese, Finnish, etc.). The only ones that consistently work well are the Izhevsk marked ones. They will have a lightly stamped triangle with an arrow in it on the bottom of the stripper clip. There are some good Finnish ones with a Tikka mark (T in a triangle) but the Chinese have made reproductions that are junk. Also it helps when loading to use your index finger to pull up slightly on the bullet while using your thumb to push down on the base of the case. When you have a good stripper clip and good technique, loading is a breeze. Rim lock is a myth on a mosin because a working interruptor makes it an impossibility.

I have purposely loaded rounds into my MN so i would get rim lock, and i never did. My rifle is in great shape, mabey one with a damaged interruptor would jam. I actually got rim lock ONCE, but i gave the bolt a good smart whack and it chambered. Could have been the 50 year old ammo

One frequently reads of the design inconvenience of rimmed rounds, yet the Russians still manage to produce reasonably reliable and well-liked machine guns for the 19th century 7.62x54r cartridge. Likewise the .303 British.

I owned both and never experienced a feeding issue because the rims got themselves in the wrong order. I did like the interrupter on the Mosin because it made it easier to load just four rounds and close the bolt on an empty chamber. Of course, I liked the ten-round magazine on Lee-Enfields, too.

The stripper clip or charger problem for a Mosin-Nagant seemed to be because the clip either wasn't shaped correctly where it fit into the guide (the bend wasn't sharp enough) or it deformed too easily. Never had that problem with a Lee-Enfield but I will admit to not used clips for either all that much. They did make handling cartridges a lot easier. That was a hot idea in 1898. Mauser clips are even better but they still take a little practice. You can argue clips and magazines but Mauser clips do have springs.

I had some Mosin-Nagan clips that worked fine but most did not. I don't recall noticing markings on any of them. I also never figured out how to make the bad ones work by bending them.

To further complicate things with the M-N clip*, it is the only rifle "stripper" clip I can think of that does not pop out when the bolt is closed, requiring that it be manually removed from the guide after stripping the cartridges. On the Mauser, the Springfield, the British rifles and the Arisaka, you only need to close the bolt to kick the clip away.

It's no secret that a lot of us are frustrated to use stripper clips in the Mosin-Nagant. The causes vary, but can usually be narrowed down to any combination of four items.

1. Improper stripper clip loading. Though in theory the rounds can be thrown into a stripper clip willy-nilly and be expected to work correctly, the reality is that on must stagger the rims in an order that gives omni-directional loading potential as well as ease of loading.

I have seen surplus factory loaded into the stripper clips in this manner, and it works well:

This helps keep the rounds in place while they move downward. Otherwise, as you can see, they tend to spill out the sides.

3. Poor fitting of parts. The USSR could not always hand-fit parts properly. The Mosin was made during a time when final fitting was done by hand. One cannot really expect these to function well without such fitting any more than one could expect a 1911 to function will by just dropping in random parts from different pistols!

Unfortunately, this next video only shows the results of proper fitting, not the fitting itself. I've not gotten around to doing the picture series on that, yet. Results:

Here is part II, how I've found the ejector and interrupter system works best. This is not to say this is the only way, but rather what I've found to work 100% by experiment.

First, the parts in which we're interested:

The ejector retains the top case and ejects the empties, while the feed interrupter, located on the spring, keeps the next round low enough so that the rims don't lock.

Interrupter action:

With a single round...

... and with a round on top.

If your interrupter isn't functioning, first check stock clearance. If it still doesn't function, you may have to replace it.

Stripper clip/charger clearance:

If you will, compare the rear of your ejector to the rear of the one in my rifle. Is there clearance for the stripper clip to function, or when you press down on the stripper clip, is the ejector pushed down as well, to the point that it blocks the rounds from feeding into the magazine?

Using a jeweler's half-round file, slowly deepen the half-moon crescent shape where the clearance should be. Go slowly and check often as too much clearance will allow the stripper clip to sink into the mag well. The rounds will still strip from it, but you risk the rounds spewing back out as the clip will hold open the ejector and interrupter.

Rimlock:

If you experience rimlock, you'll need to take a look at the feed angles. I've seen instances where they're too steep or shallow. A steep feed angle will allow the top round's rim to contact the next one down and lock up the works.

In my case I had to make the rounds nose down. I put an "S" bend in the top spring and that worked very nicely. You'll have to adjust it a little at a time, but you'll find the sweet spot for your particular Mosin.

Sometimes, a round will not be picked up.

Seldom, a round will ride under the bolt. This is mostly due to feed angles, but sometimes the mag springs can be worn or the joints simply are not allowing the follower to extend upwards all the way.

Filing the above location, one stroke at a time and testing it after each stroke, will allow the follower assembly to extend further upwards.

The Mosin-Nagant is a sound design. However, it suffers from poor execution many times, especially when we're talking about the Russian models. We just don't hear many problems with the Finnish models.

This is due to a couple reasons: First, the Russian models are generally considered to be pikes first and firearms second. They were arming a huge mass of conscripts, many of whom had never held a rifle before. The Finns, on the other hand, were experienced marksmen. The Finnish rifles are riflemens' weapons.

Second, the Russians were often producing these under extreme time constraints. Many times rifles and submachine guns went directly from the factory to the front lines. In fact, the City of Tula and the arsenal located was under attack during Operation Barbarossa, yet the city still had to be defended... and you thought you had a hard day at work?

The Finns were not generally under this much pressure due to a smaller production requirement and the fact that their factories and machinery remained relatively intact.

For those of us who cannot afford the Finnish rifles or simply want beater rifles to carry around, the Russian Mosin-Nagant, with a little care and tweaking, works wonders. In fact, taken far enough, one might not notice any practical shooting differences between one or the other.

The problem with the Chinese knock-offs is that the part of the clip that the rims slide in is too loose. This allows the rims to lock on each other in the clip. You can get better results by gently tapping the back of the clip with a blunt chisel or flathead screwdriver blade...you want to just BARELY bow it in from top to bottom down the centerline of the clip. Test fit a few cases to find how far you need to go with it.

The ones that came with Polish light ball are about as good as they get. Bulgarian ones are okay too.

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